Funding provided by the Australian Research Council as a 2015 Discovery Project Grant

 A/Prof Edith Gray is the First Named Chief Investigator and works on this project with partner Chief Investigator A/ Prof Ann Evans

The timing and context of Australians’ entry into parenthood differs across the socio-economic spectrum. This project investigates the socio-economic disparities in entering parenthood, particularly focusing on education and employment differentials as well as socio-demographic factors such as ethnic and religious background, and experience of family dissolution. Using longitudinal panel data, this project aims to: determine the socio-economic and demographic differentials of inequality in first family formation in Australia; discover how inequality in first family formation has changed since the middle of the 20th Century; and, assess how family-policy regime mediates or exacerbates this inequality. The project will have academic, social and public policy impacts. It will result in methodological advances in family research and will increase our understanding of the effect of social inequality on disparities in the timing and context of family formation. The project will measure the impact of policy on family formation and engages directly with policy makers. Delivering high-quality international comparative results will enable family-policy makers to develop evidence-based policy.